Jekyll Garden

A simple Jekyll theme that turns your Obsidian notes into a beautiful website. Perfect for sharing your thoughts and knowledge online. If you use Obsidian for note-taking, this theme makes it easy to publish your markdown files as a connected website with wiki-style links and full-text search.

What it does

Jekyll Garden connects your notes together with simple [[note title]] links, just like in Obsidian. You can find any note quickly with the built-in search that works as you type. The design focuses on your content with a clean, minimal look that works great on phones, tablets, and computers. Choose between dark and light themes, and when you want to write traditional blog posts, you can do that too. The theme also supports mathematical expressions if you need to write equations.

Getting Started

Getting started is straightforward. First, download this theme to your computer. Then edit the settings in the _config.yml file with your website information. Add your notes to the _notes folder, and finally deploy to GitHub Pages, Netlify, or any web hosting service.

Basic Setup

Edit _config.yml with your information:

title: "My Website"
heading: "Your Name"
description: "A brief description of your site"
url: "https://yoursite.com"

Deployment Options

You can deploy your site to a subdomain (like notes.yoursite.com) or a subdirectory (like yoursite.com/notes):

For subdomains:

url: "https://notes.yoursite.com"
baseurl: ""

For subdirectories:

url: "https://yoursite.com"
baseurl: "/notes"

See SUBDOMAIN_SETUP.md for more details.

Writing Notes

Creating a Note

Each note is just a markdown file with a title. You write your content in markdown format, just like you would in Obsidian or any other markdown editor.

---
title: "My First Note"
date: 2025-01-15
---

Features

Linking Notes Together

Connect your notes by using [[note title]] to link to other notes. This creates the same kind of connections you're used to in Obsidian, but now they work on your website too.

Simple Linking

The linking system works just like Obsidian. Write [[note title]] and the links are created automatically. When you hover over a link, you'll see a preview of the connected note.

Search

Finding content is easy with the built-in search. It searches through all your notes instantly as you type, looking at both titles and content to help you find exactly what you need.

Backlinks

See which notes link to the current one you're reading. This helps you discover related content and explore the connections between your ideas, just like the backlinks feature in Obsidian.

Math

If you need to write mathematical expressions, the theme supports it. Use $x = y$ for inline math and $$\int_{-\infty}^{\infty} e^{-x^2} dx = \sqrt{\pi}$$ for complex equations.

How to Publishing Your Site

GitHub Pages (Free)

GitHub Pages is the easiest way to get started. Upload your files to GitHub, enable GitHub Pages in the repository settings, and your site goes live automatically.

Netlify (Free)

Netlify is another great option. Connect your GitHub repository to Netlify, and it will build and host your site. Every time you update your files, your site updates automatically.

Local Testing

Test your site locally before publishing. Run bundle install to install dependencies, then bundle exec jekyll serve to start a local server and see your site in action.

Customization

Change the look of your site by editing the assets/css/style.css file. You can modify colors, fonts, and other visual elements to match your preferences. If you want to customize the layout, you can modify files in the _layouts/ folder. Add your own CSS and JavaScript as needed, but remember to keep it simple.

Contributing

Found a bug or have an idea for improvement? Contributions are welcome. Fork the repository, make your changes, and submit a pull request.

License

MIT License - use it freely for any project.